Switch and fuse mounting



A ril 25, 1933.

T. E. MURRAY, JR

SWITCH AND FUSE MOUNTING Filed Sept. 25 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet l 77700705Z: Man" April 25, 1933. E M RRA JR 1,906,080

SWITCH AND FUSE MOUNTING Filed Sept. 25, 1925 5 Sheets-Shet 2 EwuemtoznomcUEM/rrg/J' April 25, 1933. T, MURRAY JR 1,906,080

SWITCH AND FUSE MOUNTING Filed Sept 25, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 awwamto'cPatented Apr. 2 5, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THOMAS E. MURRAY,JR., OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO METROPOLITAN I DEVICECORPORATION, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK SWITCH AND FUSE MOUNTINGApplication filed September 25, 1925. Serial No. 58,612.

The invention aims to provide improvements applicable particularly toservice entrance boxes and mechanism.

Fig. 1 is a plan of one arrangement, omitting the switch operating leverand connections and the box cover;

Figs. 2 and 3 are similar plans of alternative arrangements;

I Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the apparatus of Fig. 3 complete withthe box closed.

Figs. 5 and 6 are figures similar to Figs. 1 and 3, illustratingmodifications.

Referring first to Fig. 4, the box has a cover 11 hinged at one end witha raised portion 12 in the center to accommodate the switch connectionsinside. The cover has an opening through which projects upwardly anapertured locking car 13 at one end of the box. An operating arm 14 islocated at one side of the box on the end of a shaft 15 which passesinto the box and carries the connection to the switch blade or blades.These parts are illustrated in more detail in my previous Patent No.1,559,580, November 3, 1925.

The side of the box has a lug 16 which limits the upward swing of theswitch operating arm 14. This arm is welded or soldered to a cap 17which fits over certain fuse sockets hereinafter referred to. These arefor the customers fuses. The arm 14 must be lifted to open the switchwithin the box before access can be had by the customer to these fuses;this for the sake of safety and also to prevent theft of current.

The invention is particularly useful in connection with entrance serviceswitches and boxes of this character; but it may be applied to variousother uses and other arrangements of terminals, switches, and so forth,than those herein described.

Referring to Fig. 1, the line wires a, b and 0 enter through one of theside walls of the box, 6 being the neutral of a three-wire system. Thewires (1 and 0 are connected respectively to binding posts 18 mounted onseparate porcelain plates or supports 19 which are fastened on thebottom of the box. From the binding post 18 connections lead to aterminal 20 of a switch 21, the opposite terminal 22 of which isconnected to one terminal of a company fuse socket 23 of which the otherterminal is connected to a binding post 24 which leads by a wire 25 toone of the coils 26 of the meter. From this coil a wire 27 leads to aterminal 28 of a second switch blade 29 the opposite terminal 30 ofwhich is connected to one terminal of an outside customers fuse socket81. The opposite terminal of this socket is connected to a binding post32 which is connected to the outgoing wire d of the load circuit. Theopposite block 19 is identical with that above described and carries thesame switch and fuse connections whereby the current passes from theline wire 0 through switches and fuses and through the meter coil 33 tothe second wire 6 of the load circuit. The neutral wire 6 passes throughcontinuously.

The apparatus thus described is an improvement on the mechanism of myprior application referred to above and on standard mechanisms of thisgeneral character in that the present insulating support for the variousdevices is made up of separate units, which can be placed in variouslocations in the box without interfering with the operation of theswitches or with the connections to the meter. In this way the a paratuscan be adapted to various locations shifting in one Way or another therelative positions of the two supports with their separate groups ofdevices.

For example, Fig. 2 shows an alternative arrangement of devicesidentical with those of Fig. 1 and mounted on blocks of the same design.The blocks can be arranged as rights and lofts, as in Fig. 1, or can beidentical as in Fig. 2. In either case they are substantially the same.For example, the block in the upper part of Fig. 2 could be substitutedby that at the left of Fig. 1 by merely inverting it.

Fig. 2 shows the two blocks 19 arranged along the same longitudinal sideof the box so that the customers fuse sockets 31 are located at the sameside. This is useful for locations where the box cannot be madeaccessible at both sides or where economy of lateral space is desired.It will be observed that the electrical connections are the same in Fig.2 as in 1. The box of Fig. 1, however, is shorter than the box all ofFig. 2. The connections from the switch blades to the outside operatinglever will, of course, be different in the two cases in order to adaptthem to the different relative positions of the switches in the twofigures. These connections, however, may be made in a variety of knownways and constitute no specific part of the present invention.

In each case the supports 19 of insulating material have integralextensions which terminate in the upwardly extending sockets 31 of usualshape to receive threaded fuses. And the switch operating ZIIIHS Il: ineach case have caps sin'iilar to 17 (Fig. 4) which prevent access to orremoval of the customers fuse until the switches have been opened.

An advantage in the production of separate units. (insulating supportcarrying switch and fuse devices) is that two of them may be put in abox to provide a threewire system control, as in Figs. 1 and 2 and thatthey may be used singly to control a two-wire system. Such anarrangement is shown in Fig. 3. The line wires are shown at f and 5/.The load branched into two circuits iz-j and lcZ respectively. The block19 is substantially like those of Fig. l and carries similar terminalsand switches leading finally by a wire to the main and supplementarycoils 36 and 37 of the meter. The circuit wire 27 connects through theswitch 29 to the terminal 30. A plate 38 connects the latter to across-plate 39 which connects with the terminals of the two fuse sockets3 a and 31 The opposite terminal of the former connects through abinding post 40 with the wire is of circuit No. and the other terminalof the second socket connects through a terminal 41 with the wire j ofload circuit No. 1. In this case the lat eral extension a2 of theinsulating support which projects through the side wall of the box ismade wider than the corresponding extension 35 of the other figures, andcarries two sockets as explained because two load circuits are to beprovided. If there were a single load circuit then the extension wouldbe as in the other figures with a single fuse terminal connecteddirectly to the switch terminal 30.

The switch 21 (or the two switches 21 in the three-wire systems of Figs.1 and 2) is the main switch of the circuit and alone is operated fromthe outside when the box is covered. It is the only switch which isopened when it is desired to open the house circuit to insert customersfuses and for similar purposes. It will be observed that the connectionsfrom the line wires and the posts 18 pass by way of wires 43 to theterminal 20 l which is located at the free end of the switch blade 21,the circuit being completed by a connector if from the hinge terminal 22of the switch to the company fuse 23. \Vhen the switch 21 is open,therefore, its blade is dead, being connected only to the load side; andthere is no danger of establishing a circuit by contact of its free endwith any part of the casing or other mechanism. The parts are soarranged also that the opening of the switch 21 kills all the fuses inits circuit; the company fuse and also the customer's fuse 31 (or and31" in Fig. The switch blade 29 is lifted only when the box cover isopened and the meter is being tested.

It is preferable, instead of having the load wires pass from thecustomers fuses back into the box as in Figs. 1 to 3, to arrange them asin Figs. 5 and 6. In Fig. 5 the block 35 is extended to carry a terminalbinding post 32 from which the load wire (Z is carried out withoutreentering the box as in Fig. 1. The same arrangement is repeated on theopposite side. For Fig. 2 the block and connections would be the same asat the right-hand side of Fig. 5.

Fig. 6 shows the two-wire arrangement of Fig. similarly modified. Theblock 42 is extended to carry the two binding posts l and i1 from whichthe load wires L and j are carried out without re-entering the box. Alsofrom the binding post 45 a conductor 46 is carried to a post 47 on theextension of the block, and the two wires 6 and h of the load circuitsare carried directly out. The block 42 is carried in a. separate casing48 alongside the main box, which would have the usual cover. This covermay be connected to the switch operating lever ll as in Fig. l. Or, forall the constructions illustrated, the cover may be free from the switchoperating lever. In fact, the outside fuses may be uncovered.

Various other modifications may be made by those skilled in the artwithout departure from the principle of the invention as defined in thefollowing claims.

lVhat I claim is:

1. The combination with a metal box having a cover, of a plurality ofelectric circuit connections, a separate supportof insulating materialfor each set of circuit connections adapted to carry switch and fusedevices within said box, each of said supports having a lateralextension adpted to project through an outer wall of the box and tocarry fuse sockets in circuit with the terminals within the box.

2. The combination of a metal box having a cover, of a support ofinsulating material within said box carrying switch mechanism and havinga lateral extension projecting through an opening in an outer wall ofsaid box and carrying a fuse socket, a connection from said fuse socketto said switch mechanism and a terminal also outside the box andconnected to a terminal of said fuse socket, so that a wire can becarried from the fuse socket without re-entering the box.

3. A switch apparatus for electric circuits of the type described whichcomprises a metal box having a cover and havlng inlet connections forline wires, a switch for each electric circuit of said line wires, metercircuit connections for each of said circuits,

separately maintained supports of insu1at-' ing material, one for eachof said switches, and fuse sockets for each support, one of said fusesof each support being accessible from the interior of said box and theother being accessible from the exterior of said box.

4. A switch and fuse apparatus for electric circuits which comprises ametal box having a cover, an insulating fuse and switch supporting basein said box having a fuse socket supporting part projecting to theexterior of said box, a customer fuse socket on said exterior projectingpart of said base, a company fuse socket on said base within said box, aline wire terminal on said base within said box, a switch between saidline terminal and said company fuse socket and having the switch bladeconnected to said socket, and connections comprisin a meter and a switchfrom said company use to said customer fuse.

5. A switch and fuse apparatus for electric circuits which comprises ametal box having a cover, an insulating fuse and switch supporting basein said box, a customer fuse socket accessible from the exterior of saidbox, a company fuse on said base within said box, a line wire terminalon said base within said box, a switch between said line terminal andsaid company fuse socket and having the switch blade connected to saidsocket, and connections comprising a meter and a switch from saidcompany fuse to said customer fuse.

6. A switch and fuse apparatus for electric circuits which comprises ametal box having a cover, an insulating fuse and switch supporting basein said box, a customer fuse socket accessible from the exterior of saidbox, a company fuse on said base within said box, a line wire terminalon said base within said box, aswitch between said line terminal andsaid company fuse socket and having the switch blade connected to saidsocket, and connections from said company fuse to said customer fuse.

7. A switch and fuse apparatus for electric circuits which comprises aninsulating fuse and switch sup-porting base, a company fuse socket onsaid base, a customer fuse socket on said base, a line terminal on saidbase, a switch between said line terminal and said company fuse socket,connections from said company fuse socket to said customer fuse socket,said connections comprising me- THOMAS E. MURRAY, JR.

